Requested Recipe:

WHEAT WINES

"We have heard about wheat wine....do you have a recipe for it?"Aggie and Wayne Kennell, Nelson, BC, Canada

WHEAT

One of the first wines I ever made was a wheat wine. I used C.J.J. Berry's recipe and was pleased (but not thrilled) with the results. Having tasted better wheat wines than I had made, I decided later to try again. Again I was not thrilled. I shelved the wine and went on to making other things. A couple of years later, I needed some bottles and decided to go ahead and pour out the wheat wines and reuse the bottles. I uncorked one of the bottles and started to pour it down the drain when some little voice inside my head said, "Taste it first." I did, and to this day have never poured out a bottle of wheat wine.

Well-aged wheat wine tastes like a smooth Bourbon whiskey. I don't know how it attains this taste, as it certainly isn't there in the beginning. But obviously something really mysterious happens in the two years or so that it takes this wine to mature. The good news is you don't need to understand it to enjoy it. Just make a gallon of this wine and hide it away for two years. You'll be glad you did.

WHEAT WINE (1)

1 pt whole wheat

2 lbs golden raisins

3 sweet oranges

1 lemon

1-1/4 lbs demerara sugar

7-1/2 pts water

1 crushed Campden tablet

1/2 tsp yeast nutrient

wine yeast

Put water on to boil. Use mincer to crush wheat and mince raisins together. Put in primary with sugar and add boiling water. Stir until sugar is dissolved. Thinly peel oranges and lemon, being careful to avoid peeling white pith. Juice the fruit and set juice aside. When water in primary has cooled to mildly warm, add all remaining ingredients except yeast and stir well to mix. Cover with muslin and set aside 24 hours. Add activated yeast and recover. Stir daily for 3 weeks, then strain through nylon straining bag and allow to drip drain overnight. Do not squeeze bag or wine will cloud and fail to clear. Discard strained material and continue to ferment additional 3 weeks. Rack into secondary and fit airlock. Set aside 2 months. Rack into sanitized secondary, top up and refit airlock. After 2 additional months, rack, top up and again refit airlock. After third 2-month period, rack into bottles and store in dark place. Do not touch this wine for one to two years. [Adapted from F.W. Beech (Ed.)'s Home Made Wines, Syrups and Cordials]

WHEAT WINE (2)

1 pt whole wheat

2 lbs golden raisins

2 large potatoes

2 lemons

1-1/4 lbs demerara sugar

7-1/2 pts water

1 crushed Campden tablet

1 tsp yeast nutrient

wine yeast

Soak wheat overnight in 1 pt water. Put water on heat but do not boil. Drain wheat and put it and raisins through a mincer. Peel potatoes and slice thinly and then juice the lemons and discard pulp and rind. Put wheat, raisins, potatoes, lemon juice, sugar, crushed Campden, and yeast nutrient in primary and pour in hot water. Stir very well to dissolve sugar, cover with muslin and set aside. After 24 hours, add activated yeast and recover primary. Stir daily for 10 days. Strain but do not squeeze solids. Allow liquor to settle overnight and rack into secondary and fit airlock. When wine clears, rack into sanitized secondary, top up and refit airlock. After 3 months carefully rack into bottles and store in dark place for one or two years before tasting. [Adapted from C.J.J. Berry's First Steps in Winemaking]

WHEAT WINE (3)

2 lbs whole wheat

2 lbs demerara sugar

1 gal water

3/4 oz citric acid

1/8 tsp tannin

1 crushed Campden tablet

1 tsp yeast nutrient

wine yeast

Soak wheat overnight in just enough water to cover. Drain and put wheat through a mincer. In large pot, combine minced wheat, sugar, water, citric acid, and tannin. Bring to a boil while stirring to dissolve sugar. When water boils, cour into primary and cover. When cooled to room temperature, add crushed Campden and yeast nutrient. Stir, recover and set aside 24 hours. Add activated yeast and recover. Stir daily for 7-8 days, strain liquor into secondary, fit airlock, and set aside. When wine clears, rack into sanitized secondary, top up and refit airlock. Wait 2 months and again rack, top up and refit airlock. After additional 2 months, rack into bottles. Taste after one to two years. [Adapted from Leo Zanelli's Home Winemaking from A to Z]

WHEAT WINE (4)

3 pts whole wheat

1-3/4 lbs demerara sugar

11.5-oz can Welch's 100% White Grape Juice Frozen Concentrate

1 sweet orange

1 small lemon

6-1/2 pts water

1/2 tsp yeast nutrient

1/8 tsp tannin

1 crushed Campden tablet

Pasteur or Champagne wine yeast

Soak wheat 24 hours in just enough water to cover. Drain and put wheat through a mincer. Put water on to boil. Thinly peel orange and lemon, being careful to avoid peeling white pith. Juice the fruit and set juice aside. Combine minced wheat, citrus peelings and juice, grape juice concentrate, sugar, and tannin in primary and add boiling water. Stir well to dissolve sugar, cover with muslin and set aside. When cooled to room temperature, add crushed Campden and yeast nutrient. Stir well, recover and set aside 24 hours. Add activated yeast. Stir daily for 3 weeks. Strain through nylon straining bag to remove solids (do not squeeze bag). Continue fermentation until specific gravity drops to 1.000 and then rack into sanitized secondary and fit airlock. Set aside 2 months. Rack into sanitized secondary, top up and refit airlock. After 2 additional months, rack, top up and again refit airlock. After third 2-month period, rack into bottles and store in dark place. Allow to age two years before tasting. [Author's own recipe]

My thanks to Aggie and Wayne Kennell of Nelson, BC, Canada for this request.

This page was updated on April 19th, 2000

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